Tottenham Hotspur suffered a painful home defeat against Southampton on Wednesday evening. In a spectacular encounter, Southampton turned a 2-1 deficit into a 2-3 win; in stoppage time substitute Steven Bergwijn equalized, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The defeat leaves Tottenham seventh in the Premier League. League-leader Manchester City won 2-0 against Brentford and is twelve points apart from Liverpool, although the number two still has two games left. At the same time, Philippe Coutinho played a leading role, who scored and provided two assists in a spectacular game between Aston Villa and Leeds United (3-3).
Tottenham Hotspur – Southampton 2-3
The team of manager Antonio Conte was allowed to squeeze his hands early in the game. Mohamed Elyounoussi killed a huge opportunity by shooting the ball straight into the hands of Hugo Lloris from about five yards. After an exciting opening phase, the Spurs with some fortune helped by Jan Bednarek. Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg looked for Heung-Min Son with a cross from the right flank, after which the Southampton defender slipped the ball behind his own goalkeeper: 1-0. However, the home team could not enjoy the lead for long, as Ben Davies’ poor defense was punished by Armando Broja halfway through the first half: 1-1.
Southampton then took matters into their own hands and through Stuart Armstrong (header), Broja (attempt just wide of the post) and Romain Perraud (long shot to the crossbar) also got serious opportunities for more. Son thought Tottenham would shoot roses in the second act on the instructions of Lucas Moura, but the Saints still managed to turn the game upside down. First Elyounoussi headed the 2-2 against the ropes and Ché Adams even gave Southampton the full loot with his head just under two minutes later: 2-3. A new hero role seemed to be reserved for Bergwijn again in injury time. The substitute wing attacker scored the equalizer, but to his great disappointment was half a meter offside.
Justice?! † James Ward-Prowse puts the ball in front of the goal twice in an identical way and twice he gets an excellent nod against the ropes ?? Southampton looks set to stunt again against Spurs ??#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #TOTSOU pic.twitter.com/z56R9gAoiq
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Feb 9, 2022
Manchester City v Brentford 2-0
Manchester City, with Nathan Ake on the bench, was clearly the better match in the first half. Especially in the last fifteen minutes before the break, the home team created opportunities, but in the end it took a penalty to break the spell. Raheem Sterling was torpedoed in the penalty area by right back Mads Roerslev, after which Riyad Mahrez coolly searched the top left corner. In the second, Manchester City again put pressure on Brentford, who were rarely able to get out of it. Halfway through the second act, Kevin De Bruyne lifted the margin to two. Goalkeeper David Raya promptly handed the ball in to Raheem Sterling and then turned his shot around, but De Bruyne scored in the rebound.
The ball goes on the dot! Sterling is pushed to the ground and earns a penalty, which Mahrez shoots in just fine ?? City on a 1-0 lead!#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #MANBRE pic.twitter.com/XhJ0H1zItR
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Feb 9, 2022
Aston Villa – Leeds United 3-3
With Pascal Struijk in the base, Leeds started the game energetically. Even before the end of the ninth minute of play, Daniel James found the 0-1 on a pass from Rodrigo. An impasse then broke out, which was only broken by Coutinho after half an hour of play. The Brazilian checked Matty Cash’s cross and shot diagonally in: 1-1. Expand in thirteen minutes the Villans the lead to 3-1. Both the second and third goal came from the foot of Jacob Ramsey, who was served by Coutinho in both cases.
Victory seemed within reach, but nothing could be further from the truth. Even before the halftime signal, James took care of the connecting goal with his second of the evening. The final score was determined in the 63rd minute of play, when a through header from Struijk was cashed in by Diego Llorente: 3-3. Villa was left with ten men after a double yellow card for Ezri Konsa, but the score on the scoreboard did not change.
Norwich City – Crystal Palace 1-1
The home side kicked off against Crystal Palace on Carrow Road. Within two minutes, Norwich City had taken the lead when Teemu Pukki scored from the inside of the post after replacing Adam Idah: 1-0. Wilfried Zaha tied the score with one hour on the clock by curling the ball into the right corner from the edge of the box beautifully: 1-1. A few minutes later, after a foul Maximilian James Aarons had the perfect opportunity to give Palace the victory, but Zaha shot his penalty just two meters wide.